Hillary Clinton told congressional committee she had no information about Epstein

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a congressional committee on Tuesday that she did not remember ever meeting the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and had no information to share about his criminal activities, Reuters reported.

"I do not recall ever having met Mr. Epstein. I have never flown on his plane or visited his island, homes or offices. I have nothing to add to that," she said in a statement to the House Oversight Committee.

Hillary Clinton's statement came ahead of her closed-door testimony before the committee in Chappaqua, New York.

Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee in the 2016 election, also accused the Republican-led committee of trying to distract from President Donald Trump's ties to Epstein, who committed suicide in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. She said the Trump administration had "crippled" the State Department's office that dealt with international sex trafficking.

She and her husband, Democratic former President Bill Clinton, initially refused to testify before the committee, but relented when lawmakers initiated proceedings to hold them guilty of contempt of Congress.

Bill Clinton is scheduled to testify before the committee on Friday.

Ahead of the hearing, the chairman of the Oversight Committee, Republican James Comer of Kentucky, denied that the investigation was partisan and directed against Trump's 2016 presidential rival, stating that some Democrats had also demanded that Clinton testify.

“At this point, no one is accusing the Clintons of any crime,” Comer said.

He said the committee would seek to determine whether Hillary Clinton had any contact with Epstein, whether he was involved in the Clintons' humanitarian work, and whether she had any relationship with Gillian Maxwell, Epstein's associate who is in prison.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the committee, told reporters that both Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Latnick should testify. Latnick has admitted to visiting Epstein's private island years after he claims to have cut ties with him.

A Clinton spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. Comer said transcripts of the Clinton interviews would be released, Reuters reported.

Bill Clinton flew on Epstein's plane several times in the early 2000s after he left office. He denied any wrongdoing and expressed regret over the connection.

According to Comer, Epstein visited the White House 17 times while Clinton was president.

Trump also frequently hung out with Epstein in the 1990s and 2000s, before his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. Comer said the evidence the committee gathered did not incriminate Trump.

Trump's Justice Department has released more than three million pages of documents related to Epstein over the past few months to fulfill obligations under a law passed by Congress.

The Justice Department tried to draw attention to the photos of Bill Clinton, but the documents also revealed Epstein's connections to a long list of business and political leaders, including Commerce Secretary Howard Latnick and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Abroad, the documents have sparked criminal investigations against Britain's Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Duke of York, and other prominent figures.

Closed-door hearing briefly interrupted after journalist publishes photo from it

Hillary Clinton's closed-door hearing was briefly interrupted after right-wing political commentator Benny Johnson posted a photo from the hearing on social media. He said the photo was provided to him by Representative Lorin Bobert, the Guardian reports.

Clinton's adviser, Nick Merrill, told reporters that the hearing had gone "off the record" due to a possible violation of House rules.

"It is against the House rules that were read at the beginning of the meeting. The hearing has therefore been briefly adjourned while it is determined where the photo came from and why, possibly, members of Congress are violating House rules," he explained.

Previously, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer told reporters before the hearing that he planned to release a video and transcript of what he expects to be a "lengthy" questioning of the former secretary of state.

"It's going to be a long video and a long hearing," he said, adding that the questioning of former President Bill Clinton tomorrow will be "even longer."

"We will release the transcripts and video as soon as everyone approves," Comer said.